What's with all of the female units?

The new Heroes games produced by Ubisoft. Please specify which game you are referring to in your post.
Matt1128Y
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What's with all of the female units?

Unread postby Matt1128Y » 16 Apr 2011, 15:09

Or why is Black Hole Entertainment catering towards a female audience/female perspective?

No Heroes of Might and Magic (HOMM) game has had this many female units. Is this a "progressive" thing? Is this a "feminism" thing? Is this a "diversity" type thing? I think video game developers should keep social experimentation and politics out of the video game industry. When are people going to realize that most (not all) of women are not interested in video games, which is why its customer base was, is, and will be predominately male. My girlfriend, for instance, will not even give video games a try. Why? Because she is completely uninterested, just like I am completely uninterested in some of the stuff she is interested in. Do any of you know of any men who would not give video games in general a single try? I am sure there exists men like this, but they are by far not as common as women.

And it is not just the game itself, but the entire Heroes 6 package. Even this website is catering towards women. Look at some (most) of the background pictures for this website: http://img849.imageshack.us/f/female.gif/

Now let us look at the units in Heroes 6:

Please keep in mind that units that are not female are not necessarily male. For example, the Skeleton unit could be either female or male. And it is normally difficult to discern the sex of units that are not humanoid in appearance, like Hellhounds.

Haven: 4/7 units are female, 3/7 male. I count the Griffin as female because it looks female, especially when you compare it to the griffins from past HOMM games.

Inferno: 1/7 are female, 4/7 male, 2 unknown.

Necropolis: 3/7 are female, 3/7 male, 1 unknown.

Sanctuary: 3/7 are female, 3/7 male, 1 unknown.

Stronghold: 2/7 are female, 5/7 male.

Total: 13 female, 18 male.

To put this in perspective, in Heroes 3, there are only 3 units that are female (that is including neutral units).
So, what is this about? Is this a political thing (i.e., "I am womyn hear me roar!"). I think so.

Or maybe this has something to do with sex appeal? I doubt it because none of these female units are sexy in the normal sense.

Regardless of Black Entertainment's reason, they have turned the series into a joke. I love women as much as the next guy, but principally women are not physically intimidating. Therefore, it is hard to take them seriously in a war-based game, especially when they are depicted as being 120 pounds. That coupled with the curves does not make for a powerful-looking unit. Sorry. Evidently, 3DO agreed.

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Unread postby Infiltrator » 16 Apr 2011, 17:47

Female breasts sell better.
Infiltrator out.

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Kalah
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Unread postby Kalah » 16 Apr 2011, 18:17

Marzhin answered this question in the interview.
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Unread postby Pitsu » 16 Apr 2011, 18:25

Kalah wrote:Marzhin answered this question in the interview.
If he continues giving this kind of answers he may turn in to a professional demagogist. If i think of a real wold for a moment, there probably are more children involved in military than females, why is the childrens right to wear arms not proportional with men and women in H6?
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Unread postby Kalah » 16 Apr 2011, 18:33

Children were never considered eligible fighters in the Iron Age. Women were considered exceptional, and not often seen on battlefields. The choice, however, seems to have been based on the general opinion that there should be a number of female units available, not just the singular exception.

As to why they have done it this way, I would guess that it has more to do with appealing to female players and creating a diverse creature pool than trying to satisfy the adolescent fantasies of teenage boys, like Nival did. Looking at these female units, I'm not seeing the typical "barenaked ladies". While clearly possessing female traits, the focus is not on their sexuality. If that's what you think, I believe that says more about you than the creatures ...
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Unread postby HodgePodge » 16 Apr 2011, 18:53

Not too many Female Heroes though, if UbiHole wants to appeal to female players, then keep the skimpy armor to a minimum and have half of the Heroes be Heroines.
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Unread postby Matt1128Y » 16 Apr 2011, 19:10

Kalah wrote:Children were never considered eligible fighters in the Iron Age. Women were considered exceptional, and not often seen on battlefields.
So wouldn't that make his reasoning inconsistent and therefore BS?
As to why they have done it this way, I would guess that it has more to do with appealing to female players and creating a diverse creature pool than trying to satisfy the adolescent fantasies of teenage boys, like Nival did. Looking at these female units, I'm not seeing the typical "barenaked ladies". While clearly possessing female traits, the focus is not on their sexuality. If that's what you think, I believe that says more about you than the creatures ...
I think it has more to do with appealing to political correctness/feminism than appealing to women themselves. Because why would a company risk alienating the tried and true predominalely male Heroes player base to try and grab a few more female players. That's presuming increasing the number of female units would even attract more female players in the first place!

And I agree with you that this has little to nothing to do with sex appeal.

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Unread postby mr.hackcrag » 16 Apr 2011, 22:35

Hi Matt, welcome to the fourms. We've had this conversation here:

viewtopic.php?t=11659&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

I had the non-sexist position. :proud: I hope you'll agree. :)

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Unread postby Fewtger » 17 Apr 2011, 09:10

Infiltrator wrote:Female breasts sell better.

This.

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Unread postby Neidhaart » 17 Apr 2011, 09:43

Does it matter?
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Unread postby Matt1128Y » 17 Apr 2011, 10:26

Neidhaart wrote:Does it matter?
Obviously.

Do you matter?

No.

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Unread postby Mirez » 17 Apr 2011, 10:33

Matt1128Y wrote:
Neidhaart wrote:Does it matter?
Obviously.

Do you matter?

No.
easy there...
treants are dendrosexual 0_o

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Unread postby vicheron » 21 Apr 2011, 09:35

Video games are perfect for social experimentation and politics since they have no real consequences. It's not like anyone's going to lose their job if they add more female units.

As for females not being intimidating, neither are monks and mages, 3 foot tall halflings, or beer bellied peasants.

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Re: What's with all of the female units?

Unread postby ecsunotos » 21 Apr 2011, 09:42

Matt1128Y wrote: Regardless of Black Entertainment's reason, they ...
What did u mean by Black Entertainment ? They did this in purpose ?

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Unread postby Corlagon » 21 Apr 2011, 09:45

Here we go again!
A hint: attacking the people you're crusading at is not the best way to drum up support.


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Unread postby Ar.Pi » 21 Apr 2011, 16:16

lol a chauvinistic rally!

art fantasy chicks are sexy. most gamers are male. most males like chicks (that are sexy). chicks+male=more clicks more buying game.

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Unread postby mr.hackcrag » 22 Apr 2011, 00:22

Conclusion doesn't follow from your premises. And it can't really be called a rally when it's just one dude spamming everywhere.

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Unread postby jeff » 22 Apr 2011, 00:51

mr.hackcrag wrote:Conclusion doesn't follow from your premises. And it can't really be called a rally when it's just one dude spamming everywhere.
Ok make it two that has no problem with all of the female units. I think most will be overdressed. ;) Ahem I know that can't be helped, but I find the arguments about the fact skimpy armor wouldn't protect them amusing. :loll: This is fantasy, and if you want me to stare at the screen for lengthy periods of time, I best enjoy the view. :proud:
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Unread postby Ar.Pi » 22 Apr 2011, 16:40

jeff wrote:
mr.hackcrag wrote:Conclusion doesn't follow from your premises. And it can't really be called a rally when it's just one dude spamming everywhere.
Ok make it two that has no problem with all of the female units. I think most will be overdressed. ;) Ahem I know that can't be helped, but I find the arguments about the fact skimpy armor wouldn't protect them amusing. :loll: This is fantasy, and if you want me to stare at the screen for lengthy periods of time, I best enjoy the view. :proud:
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